However, the problem I have is that I could do what you are saying without handing it off to others.

The fact is, certain scientific principles REQUIRE adherence to mathematical principles. These are not hard formulas to follow...I model the forumula, I give an equation over, sometimes algebra / calculus require a a bit of interpretation to get it into the machine, however, this is why programmers have to have so much math. Because they have to be able to understand the equations, and have to be smart enough to understand how to break it apart to put it into code.

Sometimes, I can give ranges of values that can be expected -- which can simplify the code. However, you have to be able to see what I give you, you have to be able to interpret it, and put it into code. If I can model it in mathematica and have it generate the code I need and put it into the software...well...I can't find a reason to have a programmer around.

Nothing I have asked is that difficult, however, it seems programmers don't give a damn...

No, they cannot in most circumstances. A rather critical part of generating code is to understand what it is for and people that can specify architecture, design and functionality in a way that it can be implemented "anywhere" are a lot rarer than exceptional programmers and a lot more expensive.

In this case, it doesn't matter where exceptional programmers are, because I've had shitty programmers that could follow my directions and give me what I wanted because they paid attention. I work in a science based world and have to deal with code that is EXACT and no short cuts taken simply because someone doesn't understand plain simple logic. I've found a LOT of great programmers out there that could program the shit out of anyone else, but they don't listen. And when they do, the concepts go over their head. In the end, I have to go back and rewrite code I paid someone else to do and write it in a language that even nonprogrammers can follow the logic, write it in a way that is overly simplistic and inefficient, but it works. I've tried it the other way -- start off doing just this, and handing it over to programmers to optimize, but that takes me away from what I was originally trying to handle in the first place (and when I run functional tests between the two code bases, I still get differences because the coders can't understand why I would care about certain things, or "it only affects a small percentage of cases, which we just ignore" (paraphrased).

You need someone there with you, and great programming skills don't matter these days if you don't understand why you are doing something. I'd rather have a mediocre programmer that understands what we are trying to accomplish than a great programmer that doesn't. Not sure why, but it feels as if these skills are mutually exclusive.

I loved the old Mac. It was the most user friendly system out there -- and as a musician I needed just this. I also cut my teeth on unix (specifically SysV), so when OS X came out, it was the best of both worlds.

Give me a unix based system that I can do my research and gives me low latency with an interface that I don't have to think about, and I'll be happy. I can't stand Microsoft at all...it doesn't do userfriendly well, and the nerd side of it sucks (even if you put the GNU tools on it...I don't even know if these exist anymore, but it was the only way I could get by dealing with NT back in the day).

You and me both. Apple has sucked on the network side lately...it is sad, they adhere to the official specs, which as we all know isn't how things are implemented in the real world. If something doesn't work, it doesn't matter if it is right or not...this is one thing I think the community gets right, they do clean room specs, but then they make it work.

I know there was a community fix for this a while back, not sure if Apple implemented this or not.

Yeah, the media side goes away for XMAS. You can schedule things to go up -- in advance -- things like price changes and all that, but if it isn't in the scheduler, its locked.

On the OS side, this was supposedly a rush release...they made it mandatory, but let us know early it was going to drop. I believe enterprise users had the ability to run a script that would stop it...but I don't know why you would.

Considering Sony doesn't find it a priority to get it on their services, why should Apple?

Why should Apple bring people back from vacation to deal with a problem another company brought upon themselves? If Sony wants Apple to post it, give them two weeks. It isn't an exceptional case. There is no national emergency. But go on you for the anonymous hyperbole.

Anyone that has EVERY put anything out with Apple -- Apps, Books, Music, Movies -- knows that Apple sends an email several weeks in advanced telling that they are going into a freeze for a week or two EVERY YEAR. They let their people go on vacation and spend time with the family and all that shit.

Guess what? It takes about a week from the time Apple gets a movie until they post it. They do a QA check on it, and make certain the ratings are correct and ask that the folks on the other side to verify the same. The quickest this happens is about a week. And now Sony wants Apple to order their employees back in from their vacation, all the while not putting this up on either of their two services.

I know/. hates Apple these days (I was around when/. loved them) but damn...

"...That small doses don't negatively affect driving ability. Some go as far to say it may even improve driving ability."

Technically, this is true of alcohol as well. If you look at driving data, there is a small spike in performance with the initial intoxication, that quickly goes away with increase in blood alcohol levels. The problem is, when you let people know this, they vastly over estimate their ability as well as their level of intoxication. By even suggesting this, and suggesting it might be better to do so, you have actually made it more dangerous.

Personally, I won't drive buzzed or otherwise. I find it to be selfish to think that I should have the right to be under any influence while I'm driving just because I want to get fucked up.

If you set your luggage combination to 1234, the same as your bank pin, don't be angry when someone figures it out.

That said, I have shitty passwords for a lot of services I don't care about. My flikr account was like a 5 letter password that I shared with friends. I, however, didn't care if someone saw my peen because after my yearly camping trip with my friends, it is usually the most reported item on our facebooks (only embarrassing when the head of your department comments on it).

Do you not understand the Apple way of thinking? There are few user preferences.

It may piss off the nerd aspects of me, but it also simplifies life when I'm not. Why? Because user pref here, user pref there, user pref everywhere and it never stops.

I use to design sounds for synths. A few hundred preferences to get a particular sound. I could almost deal with this because it was an art. And then I realized everyone else had this same preference at their fingertips but would rather buy the sounds and never touch them. Why? Because most people don't give a fuck, they just want something that works.

Back to the point, if someone actually gave a fuck and understood what was going on, they would have followed the directions before getting rid of the phone, or worked with support for the 10 minutes it would take to reset it. But they didn't...because they didn't give a fuck and expected it to be automatic without having to think about it.